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Options for 'Fixing' A Pirated Copy of Windows

Posted by ryuzaki0 on

PunkOfLinux writes "My parents are running a pirated copy of windows that my mom received from a teacher at school. My parents want to go legit, and buy a copy of Windows, but they are afraid of deleting everything and having to reinstall all their programs. Seeing as I know you guys will have an answer, I'm going to ask you: What would you do in this situation?"

5 of 601 comments (clear)

  1. Why bother? by DbZeroOne · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Are they losing sleep at night feeling like they're taking food out of the mouths of those in Redmond? Do they think their system will run better? Perhaps they feel it's a sin because technically it's stealing? My advice... don't even bother with it. Buy Vista if and when it's released or wait until you get a new computer.

    1. Re:Why bother? by neo8750 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Do they think their system will run better?
      I think that it makes a difference. My friend had a AMD 2200 and had a gig of ram. His system ran fine and dandy till the wga started popping up. Once it started showing up his system slowed to a slow crawl. (Once he applied a wga fix it was up and running just like before the wga ever showed its face) My copy is legit so i couldn't compare results on my system. Did any one else have a problems like this just out of curiosity?
    2. Re:Why bother? by bzipitidoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm in favor of changes to intellectual property law. You talk as if the law is holy or something. But we all know very well there are many bad laws on the books thanks to selfish interests who got rich off the masses and then used that wealth to buy laws. They're the ones laughing at the poor schmucks who waste time lobbying. Can't lobby effectively without a lot of money. The ultimate message that the whole idea of "intellectual property" is seriously broken has yet to sink in. How to get that message across? Don't buy or license their "property" and make sure they understand why! Whether that means pirating, boycotting, or finding alternatives is up to the individuals.

      It'd be a poor world where everything, tangible or not, has to be owned, where it's considered treason against Capitalism to not play the game and haggle, scratch and claw, and account for every penny. I know what such a world is like because I was in one in miniature. I was once in a private school attractive to wealthy and powerful people. I wonder if you know how those people think? Think of the movies Titanic and Dead Poets' Society. Everything has a price. Save a lady from drowning herself? Worth at least a $20 and a dinner invitation, thank you and go away when dinner is over, you've been paid. No, that was not typical Hollywood bashing of the rich, that's really how those people are. One of the crazier things at the school was the system the students had going for software piracy. You had to have a stake. At that school, these children of the wealthy were not going to give away a copy of some computer game, it had to be "paid" for with a copy of something the "owner" didn't have. A copy for a copy. Strange how fussy those students were about "something for something" all while blissfully ignoring the copyrights of the game makers. But they were always two-faced like that. They were as much and probably more into piracy as everyone else. Intellectual property rights are for little people to obey?

      So tell us, where's your righteous outrage on behalf of those people who got screwed into paying for Windows twice, thanks to WGA? To compensate, maybe it's okay for them to pirate Vista when it comes out? Yes, yes, it'd be a lot of fun to drag MS into court and win a lawsuit over this, but it's a lot quicker to just pirate, or pay for Windows again. Saves time, and time is money. Saves on court costs too. 2 wrongs don't make a right, but often a wrong for a wrong is a lot more efficient and cost effective. Admit it, lobbying isn't in the same league as piracy for time, effort, and effectiveness.

      --
      Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"
  2. Re:Buy an OEM copy by technothrasher · · Score: 4, Interesting

    OEM copies can be sold with things like computer mice or ethernet cards

    Judging from Microsoft's 'System Builder' documentation, I don't think you even need to bother doing that. Buying and installing an OEM version of Windows onto your PC is perfectly fine and legal. But by doing so, you've now created a 'new PC' in Microsoft's eyes and so you no longer have access to any support from them, as support for OEM software is to be obtained from your system builder (namely, you, in this case). So you're legal but completely on your own. At least this is the way I read it.

  3. Re:Buy an OEM copy by qaz2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As an individual, how much less on your own are you if you have a retail version?

    I do think one should buy the software one uses (I know I do), but I don't expect
    any personal support from Microsoft; I'm already glad if they fix known (security)
    bugs in a decent time frame.